The fracking protesters who were sentenced to over a year in prison this week are to be saluted (Anti-fracking protesters are jailed in landmark decision, 27 September). Unfortunately, the soundbite used by their lawyer, and reported by the Guardian, that “there has been no environmental protester sentenced to jail since 1932”, is simply not true.

We were among the seven campaigners first sentenced to 28 days’ imprisonment in 1993 for protesting against the building of the M3 through Twyford Down. These direct action protests at Twyford Down from 1992 to 1995 kickstarted the modern-day environmental direct action movement from which today’s fracking protests have emerged.

Protesters were later jailed for taking part in the direct action against the M11 link road in east London and the Newbury bypass, and for protesting against field trials of genetically modified organisms.

Headline-grabbing soundbites should not be used to distort history. The real difference between the punishment of road protesters in the 1990s and of anti-fracking protesters today is the length of the sentences. Sixteen months’ imprisonment is a heavy price to pay for trying to prevent climate change.Rebecca Lush, Simon Fairlie, Emma Must, Phil Pritchard and Jason Torrance

• Now we know: peacefully protest against fracking, and you’ll get 15 (or 16) months in jail.

On the other hand, kill a cyclist on the roads of London, and you’ll also get 15 months in jail (this was the sentence recently given to a coach driver convicted of causing death by careless driving, reported in the London Evening Standard). And “we’re all equal under the law”?Dr Richard CarterLondon